Passive/Aggressive Mice and Sick Mice

[DeadlyAccurate]

Since all the rat and mouse boards are sparcely populated, I thought I’d give it a shot here. My formerly passive mouse has suddenly become very aggressive, and my formerly aggressive mouse has suddenly become passive. Does anyone know why this would be?

Also, my now passive mouse is making short squeaking breaths. He’s otherwise acting normally (eating, running on his wheel, etc.), but I don’t know if this is a serious sign or if he was bitten on the nose. The tip of his nose is rather redder than it should be, and I thought I spotted a drop of dried blood on it.

Please, any help someone could provide. I can’t go to a vet until this afternoon at the earliest.

[breaknrun]

IANA vet so I can’t say much helpful. I did a search in google and labored breathing can apparently have many causes such as resp. infections or dehydration. As a general rule though, for an aggressive animal to suddenly become passive, it usually has to be pretty sick. Hope you get to a vet soon and good luck to Mickey or Minnie as the case may be.

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

How old are the mice in question? Gender? Are they in the same cage/tank? I’m assuming that they’re both females and in the same cage?

So the aggressive mouse is sick, and the formerly passive mouse is taking over the cage? I’m not surprised. “Nature red in tooth and claw,” etc. Mice live in a world of carefully balanced social relationships, and one of the things that can alter that balance is the Head Honcho getting sick.

Bad news: Wheezing breath and blood on the nose is not good.

Respiratory Disease in Rats and Mice

In mice ,the disease tends to cause more severe disease including acute alveolar pneumonia, although if they survive this they will develop a chronic bronchopneumonia . The ones I have seen always look ill with laboured breathing and a rough, staring coat. Even if they are not culled they usually die anyway. Treatment in mice is even less successful than it is in rats due to the massive amount of lung damage that occurs.

<snip>

There is no magic bullet for respiratory Mycoplasma in rats and mice, where animals develop symptoms it is best to consider that they have got it for life. In susceptible animals, especially mice , this means that they may develop pneumonia and probably die.

I would suggest that if a vet’s trip is going to break the bank, you save your money. Sorry.

Are these fancy mice, or just “rescued feeders”?

[DeadlyAccurate]

Thanks for the link, Duck Duck Goose. They’re both males, in a split cage (separated by wire mesh). I was mostly worried when, as you noted, the passive one suddenly started making such aggressive attacks when I put them in the bathtub to clean the cage. That sounded like a “circling the wounded” kind of tactic.

They are fancy mice. I’m not sure of their ages, but around 4 months is my guess. I’ll call a vet today and see if I can find one that treats small rodents. He’ll probably either get antibiotics or euthanasia.

[DeadlyAccurate]

I’m taking him to the vet tomorrow morning. Wish him luck!

[DeadlyAccurate]

I had to ask my husband to put Badger out of his misery tonight. The poor thing was just going downhill and when I touched him, he was already cool to the touch and only occasionally taking a breath. The antibiotic never got a chance to kick in for him.

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

I’m sorry to hear that. I had a white mouse that developed a humongous tumor and had to be euthanized. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do, especially when dealing with teeny critters like mice.